Analysis Of Into Thin Air By Jon Krakauer

The first person to reach the top of Mount Everest was Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953 (Krakauer 17). Since then more than 4,000 (Boren) people have succeeded in climbing the highest summit. Sadly, the grueling journey has taken the lives of over 270 people (Sawe). One of the people to reach the summit was Jon Krakauer a reporter, author, and mountaineer. He departed for the top of Everest in 1996 as a part of an expedition or group, not knowing this climb would later be known as the Everest Disaster of 1996. The journey, as written by Krakauer in his book Into Thin Air, attempts to highlight the mountains effects on the summit climb and acts as a way for Krakauer to release some pressure. To this day, the author still believes he is still somewhat

This drive depends on a person's role in the group, a noticeable difference which can be seen between guide Rob Hall and client Doug Hansen. Krakauer states, “Hall’s easygoing facade masked an intense desire to succeed- which he defined in the fairly simple terms of getting as many clients as possible to the summit” (Krakauer 147). Mount Everest dictated Rob Hall’s every move. According to Adventure COnsultants, “What Rob brought to the table… was an innate ability to organize and plan” (Adventure Consultants History and Legacy). His sole purpose in his job was to get his clients to the top of the summit, which required complex details and planning. However, no amount of planning could predict the weather. This goal depended on the setting of the mountain. It dictated when the climb would occur, how long the acclimation period would go on for, and how clients would act during the expedition. Dr. Seaborn Beck Weathers highlights, “Doug well enough at the point to realize that he’d spent the entire previous year agonizing over the fact that he’d gotten within three hundred feet of the summit and had to turn around… Doug was going to keep climbing” (Krakauer 163). Doug Hansen faced a much different challenge while climbing Mount Everest than Rob Hall. Hanson pushed forward because he wanted to reach the top. His goal did not relate to anyone else. He was on the mountain for himself. This separates Hansen from Hall. Their

The author remembers, “None of them imagined that a horrible ordeal was drawing nigh. Nobody suspected that by the end of that long day, every minute would matter” (Krakauer 9). The events which occurred on top of Mount Everest that fateful night in 1996 shocked the world. However, the world failed to acknowledge the pain these events left the actual members of the various expeditions in. These unfortunate souls, like Jon Krakauer, were left to wonder what they did wrong to cause the deaths of eight innocent people. Psychologist Dr. Mary Lamia explains, “The notion that one mourns a loss and then gets over it… is a myth… clinical data makes it clear that any significant loss brings up longing and sadness” (Lamia). Dealing with grief is a complicated process. The commonly known five stages of grief do not account for the lifelong effects death can have on a person. For Jon Krakauer, these effects were amplified by his thoughts on how his actions affected the overall outcome. Krakauer believes his actions were one of the many things which went wrong that fateful day and lead to the many deaths. Krakauer explains, “How had I made such an egregious mistake?” (Krakauer 220). Jon continued to ask himself these questions every day, and they continue to haunt him. The setting of Mount Everest natural affected every